If his water could be changed more often I think your friend would find it most beneficial. It looks as though he's in a vase of about 1/3 to 1/2 gallon. That's a small volume of water to try and stay ammonia and bacteria free for a week. Change the water, at least, every other day...everyday for the next 10 days being as you see "white" around his jaw now. Make sure she is using a good chlorine and metals removing agent (for tap water) and a teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon at every water change. Good Luck.

Poor guy. Your friend needs to be doing daily 100% water changes with dechlorinator in a container that tiny--from the picture it looks to be a gallon or less. Fish constantly excrete ammonia through their gills, kind of like urine. In a closed system where there's nothing to consume or remove the ammonia, the toxicity level rises extremely quickly--to the point that it burns the fish. It is very inhumane to keep a fish this way. Imagine having to breathe in, drink in, and lay in pee all day. Not nice.

I highly suggest getting a temporary container to keep him in that is long and shallow. You can get a 4 gallon rubbermaid/sterilite plastic storage bin from walmart or target for about $3 and fill it up halfway. This will mean the fish will not have to strain to reach the surface in order to breathe and he will still have plenty of swimming space. Your friend also needs to get a heater--bettas are tropical fish and despite what you hear in the pet store, heaters are not optional. Keeping them at low temperatures can have serious consequences. I only recommend heaters that have an adjustable temperature dial like this one: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...8&pcatid=11368--but you will likely need a larger container to use one of these.

Is that bottled water? Bottled water is not optimal for fish since it lacks essential minerals. It's much better to use tap water and a dechlorinator than distilled/bottled water. A good dechlorinator to use is Prime--it is highly concentrated so it is the best deal for your money. The water needs to be changed every day in a container that small.

That should help him immensely--but he also needs a heater so that his water can be kept at a stable temperature around 78-83 degrees. I highly suggest either putting him in a plastic storage bin as I said earlier, or getting him a larger fish tank, at least two gallons in size, so that it can be properly heated. Fish are cold blooded, so their entire metabolism is dependent on temperature--consistently cold temperatures weaken their immune systems and lead to digestive problems.

My friend took him home but couldn't change the water since forgot net at work. She said happy 3 years in small tank ok. She gave him some kinda multi med that fixed another betta she has in a second similar tank of popeye. Happy does nto look good. I have told her to change the water.